By Tim Binnall
Students at a school in England were treated to a rather odd guest speaker in the form of a Flat Earth enthusiast who did her best to convince the teenaged audience that the planet is not round. The surprising presentation was reportedly part of an event put together by the 'Conspiracy Theory Club' at the Headington School in the city of Oxford. The two-hour-long gathering featured high school-level students detailing their research into fringe ideas such as the possibility that Paul McCartney died in 1966 and that David Bowie predicted future events.
Alongside that fantastic fare was a special appearance by Emily Withey, a seventeen-year-old student from a nearby school who is a genuine card-carrying member of the Flat Earth Society and has believed in the controversial concept for the past few years. "I agreed to do this to break the stigma surrounding the world's biggest conspiracy theory," she said, explaining with an admirable amount of aplomb that "this is a theory, just as round Earth is also a theory." During her presentation, Withey worked to dispel what she contends are misconceptions about the Flat Earth theory and shared alleged evidence for its veracity.
As for how the proverbial jury of her peers reacted to the presentation, the response was apparently mixed among the attendees, although it appears that Withey may have made at least one convert to her cause. In a concession which likely elicited a collective groan from the Headington School science department, Hannah McGuinness revealed that "I'm less convinced that the Earth is round than I was before" and marveled that Withey "changed my opinion on the whole movement."